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Something I'd like to learn too as there are a load of drops I'd like to try. I'd be interesting in some sort of skills course that teaches this kind of stuff where I could just practice on simple stuff and build up to bigger ones.
I don't have the no fear attitude I had as a kid, so at the moment I come to a drop and just crap myself 😀 . There's no way I'm going to just go for it without knowing what I'm doing though. At the very least it will cost me money to not be working! 😀
Drops are simple, wait till you start trying jumps...
There's a great article here:
http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/fitness/article/complete-guide-to-downhill-mountain-biking-part-1-25183
This tip has made a big difference to me:
"Think of a cone of movement, which is basically your weight pivoting around the bottom bracket. Whether the bike is pointing up or down, leaning left or right, you should be able to draw an imaginary vertical line through your core (the area round your hips) and the bike’s bottom bracket"
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Looks like he rolled that one!
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I'm impressed with that!
Amazing looking bike!
Tragic looking outfit!
never pull the bars . push and weight shift.
If you have your weight forward the front wheel will drop, if you have it back the back wheel will drop, if you lean to one side the bike will lean to one side, if you get cross rutted you'll probably go over the bars. It isn't rocket science. Look ahead hit the drop/jump/whatever centred on the bike and match the angle of the bike to the angle of the down slope.
Iain
OK Jedi i'm fully aware of your abilities but explain pushing the bars please.
you push down/away with hands and heals that moves the bike under you forwards therefore putting u behind the bb andf the wheel raises/unweights
Ok so i've been thinking, Pushing? so by pushing the bars forward/down and adding a correctly timed weight shift rearwards.....You achieve the drop technique?
you wont need to shift rearwards as you move the bike forwards underneath you by pushing which puts you behind the bb by default
you offer guiding and coaching in the cairngorms?
Ah beat me to it Jedi, but..... once you've pushed the bars forward and shifted rearward and your arms are fully extended are you not pulling backwards on the bars? 😀
Just to be an arse (me that is)
no
Aye
I'm always interested in how other people demo/describe things as it's all tools in my box.
that's all
the only time you pull a bike with hands or feet is when clean in the air and making it look good 🙂
No. How?
jedi , he`s taking the piss. andy entered red bull rampage years ago ;O)
lol
Marty. bite me;-]
I'm not taking the piss.
i need to think more
you push down/away with hands and heals that moves the bike under you forwards therefore putting u behind the bb andf the wheel raises/unweights
Having been shown and taught this technique by Jedi I can confirm it does work. Even with short arms you can move the bike a fair bit forward (and level) with the arm push and the heals 'down' causes the bike to front wheel to unweight/lift.
Taking the shopping trolley analogy how would you get one to land flat over a kerb? Kicking the rear wheels gets the front up and pushing the bars moves the whole trolley forward quickly over the lip.
I'm not a doubter, but i am a doer. I'll be back J 😉
Jedi, serious question, you say never pull on the bars? So does that mean that you can do a bunnyhop with just weight shifts? I'm intruiged as I was trying it the other day, and I definitely pull up on the bars a bit, just with tons of body language as well... I can pop into a manual with just a rear weight shift thingy, but not a hop. Im seriously interested if that's how you hop?
Ignore all interweb advisors and book yourself onto a skills course ASAP…
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i think this is what jedi means.....
lyons. nope
alpin, kind of .:)
Right, I wasn't sure if that was what you were saying... I know exactly what you mean by pushing the bike away etc, and I do that when I hop and drop, and stuff anyway. Ps, fancy Corby again soon?
lyons, im off to corby today 🙂
nah lads. you are all wrong.
roll in with no speed at all, then just jump backwards as hard as possible, tuck your feet up and hope for the best. bit of lean might help, but might not. remember to REALLY tuck your head back and pull up with your feets.
easy
wot you mean, kind of?!??
surely it depends on the size of the drop and the speed at which you approach it.
a decent sized, steep drop being hit at speed will require you to push the wheels to the ground so that you can regain control more quickly.
if hitting a drop to flat at lower speeds then you'll have to pull up/pop front wheel/shift weight back more otherwise your front wheel will drop and the rear will hang on the lip throwing you over the bars.
smaller drops at speed can mostly be run at with your weight shifted back a litle and slightly bent knees/arms to absorb the landing.
get the wheels back on the ground more quickly
Hah, wish I could come, I'm tempted, for midday?
More training was had with a (easy) five inch drop 😉
"The Shopping Trolley"
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Owned, Nailed , Awesome Rad , sick air and stuff. Matching the STW profile perfectly 😉
red thunder, your cranks need to be level.
alpin, why try to land. it's a given that it will happen.
cover your brakes and keep your head up 🙂
Takes more notes 🙂
the quicker your wheels come into contact with the ground the sooner you have control over the bike. i find it quite difficult to turn and brake when in the air.
of course, it's all relative to the terrain/trail.
I'm jolly impressed with your control over the force of gravity, alpin. As Jedi says, land you most certainly will - far better to concern yourself with what happens after that, which has the added benefit of keeping your head up.
alpin,
so landing with your arse over the back in that vid is control? a drop is a drop. doing the same thing movemnet no matter how high means you never try to do more than you need to.
does that make sense?
I did a few drops in this vid:
my technique is far from perfect...but hey! i'am working on it.... 8)
TBH, Jedi. no. that doesn't make much sense.
>doing the same thing movemnet no matter.....
not wanting to be anal about it, but that doesn't read properly.
yes, that drop was, IMO, controlled.
i know what you mean about not doing more than is needed, as is usually the case. like most things, it's not best to over-analyse things too much....
lyons/jedi are you talking about Corby as in the one in Northamptonshire? That's really close to me, wouldn't mind meeting up for a ride some time if you two go there a lot 🙂 Got a bmx again now so I'm getting back into park and that sort of thing. Is it the indoor one or outdoor?
It's funny, on a dirtschool course a few years ago i was taught to pull back on the bars to manual over drop offs. Jedi taught me to push the bars and shift weight.. works so much better